The overall objective of this proposal is to provide a better knowledge of the biochemistry and physiology of the polysaccharides of human, bovine and fish vitreous. Specifically, this project is aimed at investigating the following areas: 1) Characterization of bovine and human vitreous hyaluronate with respect to chemical heterogeneity, 2) Characterization of galactosamine containing polymers of bovine and human vitreous, (3) Characterization of ichthyosans, i.e., the glycosaminoglycans of tuna aqueous and vitreous humor. Due to the multidisciplinary aspect of the proposed project, a large number of analytical procedures will be utlized i.e., column chromatography, enzymatic analysis, gas chromatography, methylation studies, infrared spectroscopy, polarimetry, etc. It is hoped that such an experimental approach will provide an index to define the precise structure of the vitreous glycoaminoglycans.